Heel-breasting machine.



J. J. SULLIVAN. HEEL BBBASTING MACHINE. APPLICATION IILED )(AY 27 1914 Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

2 SKBBTB-BHEBT 1.

J. J; SULLIVAN. HEEL BBEASTING MAOKINE.

3 SHEETS-BEBE? L ml min rmn on. "OTB-LING. IAININGI'DN. l C- UNITED s ratrns OFFICE.

JOHN J. SULLIVAN, or IrswIcH,iiiasseontiss'rws, essxqnon 'ro HAMEL SHOE MACHINERY COMPARED! LYNN. MAS SfLCHUS ET' IS, :A CQBPORATION or MAS- SACHUSETTS.

n esn snsas'rmo MACHINE.

specification Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

Application filed May 27, 1914. Serial No. 841,364.

To (ZZZ whom.- it may concern lie it known that 1, JOHN SULLIVAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ipswich. county of Essex, State ,of lYIassachusetts. have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in llecl-llreasting Machines, of which the following is a spccifioation refrcnce being had therein to theaccompanyng drawings.

in the manufacture of boots andsh oesand especially ol womens shoes having hi h heels. it is necessary to finish or .trlm .t1e breast or front portion of the.heel. The contour of the breast ofthelieel-Inaybea straight line or some regular or irregular curve. as for instance, in so-called -Loms heels. l'lcrctofore, so far as known tome, the operation of trimming the breastofthe heel has been accomplished eitherbypower operated rotary knives to which .the shoes are presented by hand, or by hand-trimm ng. this latter method being necessary wherethe heels have an irregular curve. Heel breasting machines having rotary .knivesare all so dangerous that it'has been .foundyery. diilicult to get workmen who are willmgi-to operate them, and it is necessary-.to pay much higher wages on account of the anger. i The object of my invention is' to1 produce a machine which will finish. satisfactorily the breasts of heels having any.of the vanous curves now commonly found in shoes of this character.

In the machine embodying my-inven'tion in its preferred form, Iemploy two.reci rocating knives of the contour re aired y the particular heel to be finished. hose tociprocating knives are causedto move-invardly from the sides of the heel andpreferably meet in the center. By this construe tion. the cut is made =from':theioutside of the heel toward the center and'therefore a.- true smooth edge on each sidsofthe-:heel" is formed and no bur or rough edge'is le'fta thereby obviating a. second finishing opera-- tion. It results thattho machineiembody in my invention gives to the-heel a better finish, especially at the edges-than has heretofore been possible. .i I

The machine embodying myiinvontion is very simple in constructiom.andlrqnires:nb-., skill on the part of the'operatora ilt always produces thecorr'ect curve on the heel regardless of-the skill of the workman. It is alsoso constructedgthat the operators hands are engaged atthe time when the knives are coming together and therefore the danger of injury to the operator is eliminated.

I also construct the machine. so that after theshoeis. mt in place and the machine has been started by the operator the pair of reciprocatinglmives more inwardly and make the cut, ancl,then move outwardly and come to rest automatically so'that the operator doesnot have to stop the machine. The ma: chinejs also so constructed that right and left shoes maybetrimmod inthe same machine without.anyadjustment of the macl'iine'or operation on thepart of the workman ;exccpt that of inserting the shoe. Means areprovi ded so thatthe shoe is held securely in1place and .the correct cut is al- 'ays. In ade..- 1

,Lbeliey ejmy machineto be the-first of its kind and that the-invention isra. broad one and therefore .donot limit myself to the particular .fortnshownin-tlie rawings although 1 believe this form to be the most useful embodimentofmy invention.

The invention willbe fully understoodby reference tothe following description taken in connection ;with the accompanying drawings and the novel features thereof are pointed out and clearlydefined in the claims at the close of:thi s specification.

I-n-the drawings-Figure';1is a front elevation partlybroken.away of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 Fig. 1 lookin in -the direction of -the arrows and showing the parts in the position .theyoccupywhen the shoe is inserted and the machine is in operation. Fig.-3:is a section. taken on line 33 Fig. 1 looking in thedirection of the arrows showing the stopQm'echanism imposition to allow the machinetoQoperate. Fig. 4 is a section on line -4" Fig. '11.: Fig. 5 shows thecutting mechanism ofa, machine embodying my invention -'in-,-modified form.

Referringmowto the drawings, and particularly toFi .1, at A is shown a suitable frame an'tlbec )late for .the machine. 11 designates .aguit ewaynpon which are supportedtho-'jack .and =toerest'iwhich are oi special.constructione- The jack consists o1 a slide 12- resting in said guideway 11 and,-

having formed as a part thereofafhollow post 9 within which is received an upright slide 13. Said post 5) is slotted as shown at 14 to permit thevertical movement of a pin 17 secured to the upright slide 13 and resting on the upper side of the end of a lever 15. It will therefore be seen that the slide 13 may be raised or lowered for the length of the slot 11 by a movement of the lever 15. The upper end of the slide 13 is'provided with a pin 18 en aging a thimble 19 in the heel of the last 20 on which the shoe is placed. The lever 15 is pivote'dat 16 to a post 21 which is supported on a base 22, said base being mounted in guideway 11 and being adjustably secured therein. The lever 15 is operated by a treadle 23 connected to the lever by a suitable connection 24. 'When the treadle 23 is depressed, the jack and lastare raised into position for the heel to be operated upon, as may be seen in Fig. 2.

At 25 is shown a heel rest mounted in a bracket or arm 28 which is" adjustably mounted on a rod 281 attached to the frame A of the machine. The heel rest 25 has a slight downward projection 27 at the forward edge of the heel which serves to position the heel properly, and also to form a guide against which the front ed e of the to lift of the heel of the shoe is pfaced.

he heel rest 25 is adjustable vertically in the bracket 28, in the following manner: The post 26 (see Fig. 2) is slidab e in a bore 29 in the bracket arm 28 and is drilled and tapped at its-upper end as shown at 30 to receive a screw threaded adjusting spindle 31 provided at its upper end with a knurled head 32. The spindle 31 is grooved as shown at 33 and this groove is engaged by a pin 34. It will therefore be seen that when the head 32 is turned the heel rest 25 will be raised or lowered slightly simply for purposes of adjustment. The shoe and last are placed on the upper end of the jack when the jack is in its lowest position, and then the operator depresses the treadle and raises the shoe until the heel contacts firmly with the underside Y of the heel rest.

The toe rest comprises a. base 35 adjustably mounted on the jack-supporting slide 12 by means of a hand screw 36 and slot 361,

said base 35 together with slide 12 beingslidable in guide-way 11 for purposes of adjjustment for various sizes of shoes. On the use 35 is a post 37 which is drilled to receive the rod 38 on the upper end of which the toe rest is placed. This rod 38 is adjustable vertically and is secured in place by the screw 89. On the upper end of the post' 38 is a cross-piece 40 provided at its two ends with two vertical horns 41 and 42m The cross iece 40 is covered with a padcomprising a eather coverin 43 and a suitable soft filling 44. This pad orms a suitable restfor the shoe sothat the fore part of the shoe will not be marred,duringthe operation of trimming the heel. The two horns 41 and 42 are adjustable lon itudinally of the cross piece 40 and are held in adjusted position by means of two set screws 15 and 1G to determine the position of the shoe in the machine. \Vhen a left shoe is in position to be trimmed, it is held by the operator against the horn 42, while a right shoe is held against the horn 41. It will be seen that by this device, the shoe whether right or left may be properly positioned without any change of adjustment in the machine, or any special effort on the part of the operator, so that the Louis breast is given the proper angle to the axis of the shoe.

At 47 and 48 are shown the two trimming knives. They are in effect chisels or gouges having cutting ed es (1. and are shaped according to the pecu iar form of heel which it is desiredto produce. It will, therefore, be seen that the correct breast will be given to the heel without any skill on the part of the operator. The said knives are mounted on the ends of-reciprocable slides 49 and 50 mounted in guideways formed in the upper ends of the brackets 51, 52, 53, and 54, which extend upwardly from the bed plate A of the machine. At and 56, are shown two collars secured to the respective slides by set screws 57 and 58. These collars are respectively formed with an upwardly projecting member 59 and 60 slotted to receive bars 61 and 62, secured respectively to the upper ends of the'posts 51 and 53. These bars are held in lace by the set screws 63 and 61 respective y. By this construction, a round slide rod may be employed and the reciprocating knives will be prevented from twisting, springing or getting out of alinement. The said knives are reciprocated by the connectin rods 65 and (36 and by crank plates 67 an 68 mounted on the ends of vertical shafts 69 and 70. At the lower end of each of said shafts, are beveled gears 71 and 7: meshing with corresponding gears 73 and 7 4 on the main shaft 75. The gears 7 3 and 74 bear a 2 to l relation to the gears 71 and 7:- and therefore two rotations of the mail shaft 75 are required to produceone com p)lete reciprocation of the cutting knives uring two revolutions of the main shaft 7: of the machine, the cutting knives 47 and 4-? move to ether and meet at the center of th heel an then se arate to permit anothe heel to be put in p ace, coming to rest in thi ROSIUOH as will be hereinafter explained he length of the stroke of the knives ma be varied as required by means of slots 7 and 78 in the crank plates 67 and 68.

At 1 01, see Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown rodmounted at one end in the post 53, th other-end be ng supported on a stop 102 0 post 511 ThlS rod 101 serves to protect th hands of the operator during the operation of the machine and is capable of being moved up out of the way whenever it isdesirable to get at the knives for purposes of adjustment, etc.

The stop mechanism, by means of .which the knives are caused to make one complete reciprocation and then come to rest, will now be described.

Mounted loosely on the main shaft and constantly running is a driving pulley on which runs a belt 81. Adjacent the pulley SO and cooperating therewith is located a clutch composed of three members. viz., the outer or driving member 79 which is formed integral with the driving pulley 80, the inner or driven member 82, which is fast to the shaft 75, and an intermediate memher 107 which operates to engage and disengage the clutch under control of the starting button and stop motion respectively. The driven member 82 is formed with cam surfaces 83 in the well known manner, and there are the usual rolls 8 1 located between the cam surfaces and the outer clutch member 79. Within the intermediate clutch member 107 is shown a spiral spring 85, one end of which rests against a pin 86 secured to the intermediate member 107, while the other end rests against the pin 87 secured to the inner clutch member 82. It will therefore be seen that the said spring tends to rotate the clutch members in opposite directions and to cause the rolls to ride up the cam surfaces 83 and wedge themselves between the cam surfaces and the outer clutch member. The outer surface of the intermediate clutch members 107 is formed with a shoulderz89. On the bevel gear 7 2 is placed a projection 9- which as the gear rotates engages avfinger 104 on one end of a lever 173 pivoted at 174'to the frame of the machine. The uJper end of the said lever 173 is held to tie right, as seen in Fig. 1 except when it operatesto allow the clutch to engage. At 90, is shown a push button by means of which the operutor starts the machine. This push button is on the upper end of a rod 91 (see Figs. 1 and 3) slidably mounted in a. In

103 on the bed plate A of the machine, an

is connected at its lower end as shown at 92 to a vertical rod 93 slidably mounted in a lug 95 extending from the bed )late A of the machine. A siring 96 ten s to hold the push button an rod 93 in their highest position. The upper end of the rod 93 is in the path of the shoulder 89 and in position to be engaged thereby and thus at times to prevent the rotation of the intermediate clutch member 107, thus disengaging the clutch. At 97, is shown a catch supported on a rod 98, one end of which is pivoted at 99 to the lower end of the lever 173. It will therefore be seen that when the operator pushes down the push button 90, the upper end of the rod 93 is moved out of engagement with the shoulder 89 and the clutch spring 85 then acts, causing the clutch rolls 8st to lock the two clutch members 79 and Sz'ltogether. Thereafter the main shaft 75 will be caused to rotate. by its connection through the clutch with the driving pulley 80. \Vhen the push button is pushed down a spring pulls the upper end of the lever 173 to the left as shown in Fig. 1 and this moves the catch 97 into the path of the upper end of the rod 93 so that the rod is then held out of the path of the shoulder '89 on the outer surface of the intermediate clutch member 107, as shown in Fig. 3. The rotation of the machine is thus started, and the main shaft 75 makes two revolutions. Near the end of the second revolution of the main shaft, the projection 9-1 on the gear 72 engages the finger 10-1 on the upper end of the lever 17 3 and pulls the stop 97 out of the path of the rod 93 so that the spring 96 can then pull the rod 93 and connected parts up into the path of the shoulder 89 on the intermediate clutch member 107. This occurs just before the shoulder 89 comes around so that the shoulder engages the rod 93. This stops the further rotation of the intermediate clutch member 107, thereby disengaging the two clutch members 79 and 82 and stopping the machine.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the operator pushes down the starting button, he starts the machine and the knives move in and trim the heel and then .move out and stop in a position separated from each other and ready for the insertion of the next shoe. This construction makes it possible for the operator to place the shoe in the machine, raise the shoe. into place by the treadle and then push the push utton with his right hand while his left hand holds the shoe in )roper )osition. It will therefore be seen that both hands are occupied at a distance from the knives and the danger of getting them injured is eliminated. It will also be seen that the machine has only one treadle and it is therefore easy and simple to operate and may be operated by unskilled labor.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a modified form of machine in which the operation of trimming the breast of a heel is accomplished by a single correspondingly shaped reciprocating knife or gouge, as shown at 105. In this form of machine. I employ a cutting block of wood or other suitable n'iaterial as shown at 106, so that. the knife will out clearly and not leave a ragged edge. For this purpose, the cutting block is given a contour corresponding with the shape 01 the heel so it will furnish a support foi heel for the entire length of the edge oi the knife. It is also made rotatable sothat successive cuts will not come in the same place.

What I claim is:

1. A heel breasting machine comprising a pair of knives of suitable contour, said knives being movableinwardly "from the sides of the heel and meeting in the center of the breast.

2. In a machine of the character-described, the combination of a pair of re ciprocating knives of suitable contour, said knives being movable from the sides of the heel and meeting in the center of the breast.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination of apair of reciprocating chisel acting knives of suitable contour, and means for moving said knives from the side of the heel to the center of the breast.

4. A heel breasting machine comprising a knife shaped to give the proper contour to the heel, means for reciprocating the knife transversely of the shoe and from'the edge of the heel inwardly, a support for the last for the shoe, a heel rest, and means for holding the shoe on the last, forcibly against the heel rest.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pair of reciprocating knives of suitable contour, means for reciprocating the said knives in unison inwardly from the sides of the heel to meet at the center of the breast, and

means for causing the said'knives to come to rest at the point most widely separated from each other after each complete reciprocation.

6. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a air of reciprocating knives of suitabl e contour, means for moving saidknives in unison in- Oopiea 0! this patent may be obtained for ture, in presence wardly from the sides of the heel to meet at the center ofthe breast of the heel, driving mechanism, and a stop motion acting on the driving mechanism to stop the machine after each' complete reciprocation.

7." In a' machine of the character described, the combination of a pair of reciprocating knives of suitable contour, means for moving said knives in unison inwardly from the sides of the heel to meet at the center of the breast of the heel, a vertically movable jack, and a rigid heel rest against which the heel of the shoe rests when the shoe is in position to be operated upon.

S. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pair of reciprocating knives of suitable contour, means for moving said knives in unison inwardly from the sides of the heel to meet at the center of the breast of the heel, a vertically movable jack, and a rigid heel rest adjustable vertically against which the heel of the shoe rests when the shoe is in position to be operated upon.

9. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pair of reciprocating knives of suitable contour, means for moving said knives in unison inwardly from the sides of the heel to meet at the center of the breast of the heel, a shoe support, means for moving said shoe support mto position'for the shoe to be operated upon, and a heel rest by which the vertical pos'ition 'of the heel is determined.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signa of two witnesses.

J OHN J. SULLIVAN.

Witnesses:

Gnonon P. Dmn,

Amen H. MoRRIsoN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Ietents,

Washington, D. 0. 

